Zachary Foreman

Name: Zachary Foreman (alias "Zed," "{FM}ZBoy" - Counter-Strike, "ZBoy2K" - IM Username) Gender: Male Age: 17 Grade: Junior School: Franklyn Senior Homeroom: Mr. Duana's Homeroom 11C Extra Curricular Activities: Videogames of any rating except the ESRB "Early Childhood" and "Adults Only" designations, particularly FPSs and skateboarding games such as the Tony Hawk series. He is also a skateboarder, trying to impress. He enjoys punk rock and many forms of metal (with a touch of underground hip-hop now and then) though he sometimes disdains the increasing corporate influence in this supposedly rebellious form of music. Rumors persist that he dabbles into Goth/Satanic rock, but those have yet to be proven.

Appearance: Zachary Foreman has unkempt and rather long brown hair, with a few bangs sometimes draping over his moon-grey eyes. These bangs serve to conceal some serious acne problems on his forehead, as compared to the sparsity on his face. He has a lean, somewhat scrawny build. He can usually be found outside the house in proper skateboarder fashion, in the current case, a deep-blue hoodie, olive cargo jeans and black-and-red skateboard shoes. His clothes conceal a few rather broad bruises and swellings from his various bails, though virtually no such blemishes are to be found on his head area because he wears a helmet at the skatepark.

When he talks he displays hints of that stereotypical New Yorker accent.

Biography: "Zed" is a rather easy-going, laid back persona, though he's really not one to talk or socialize, unless he's trying to impress someone with his skateboarding skills. He's a more vibrant personality online and/or with members of his gaming community, and this also shows on those occasions he invites his clan over (or vice versa) for a gaming party. Once one gets to know him better, he's a fairly sensitive guy emotionally, but not as much physically. He is generally a team player and can make a loyal friend.

Zachary was born in New York City, his family moving out to one of the many suburbs of New Jersey in his infanthood to escape the pressures of the city. He is an only child, and his parents are rather average, unspectacular individuals, his father a "classic pencil-pusher" and his mom a "soap-opera (and probably desperate?) housewife."

His parents have long since accepted that kids his age have some rebellious streak, and they have reacted by supporting him in his least controversial endeavours, most prominently skateboarding and videogaming. His family currently owns a medium-high-end PC, a PS2 and an XBox 360, and they intend to replace the former with the PS3 in November. While they have allowed Zachary to play M-rated games since 2001 (and you can guess which game started that,) they believe they have counseled him quite sufficiently that videogames should never be translated into reality.

Lo and behold, his videogame addiction translated into a growing degree of fame, which culminated in his Counter-Strike Team Jersey FM taking a podium position in their rookie debut at the recent 2005 Cyber World Cup in New York. They are currently one of the top bets to make the gold this year.

However, Zachary hasn't really had as much time to practice this year, as since then he has spent a lot of his time outside school and homework trying to launch his own skateboarding career (thanks to an almost unhealthy obsession with the Tony Hawk series.) Initial attempts to match the unrealistic combos performed in the video games have resulted in a few broken bones and many more nasty bruises. "Zed" - as he labeled his new "skate name" - has since moved down to less dangerous, basic moves, and while he still bails quite often he doesn't suffer that many injuries and almost none to such an extreme degree. At least he can count new friendships (and maybe even a new girlfriend, even if she is an in-line skater) and an increased threshhold for blunt force trauma among the fruits of his painstaking labor.

Far from being spoiled, Zachary really possesses little else apart from his formidable game collection, a rather small array of skating paraphernalia, and his clothes.

His skateboarding and videogaming are refreshing outlets for his frustration in having to deal with the student body at Franklyn Senior, where he has been enrolled since Freshman year. Not being a typical sports jock he is, like many others, singled out for harassment and some physical torture from the sporting community. He formed a Gaming Division of the local A/V club early in his Sophomore year, but that was short lived (seeing as how he was literally the only one there.) He shares a few key acquaintances among the school's sparse nerd community, and that helps him get by socially and academically. He has a slightly larger array of IM buddies - including his gaming clan - and relishes their company whenever he can. Zachary is currently on the Honor Roll with a relatively honest GPA of 3.2, though his only thoughts regarding college culminate in "games." He doesn't intend to start college right after high school, preferring to first earn the money through professional videogaming and skateboarding.

Advantages: As stated above, Zachary's body has developed an unusually high tolerance for pain, specifically full-body blows (i.e. falls and the like). Thanks to his newfound cautiousness at attempting extreme things, he is less likely to have his bones broken unless the force is applied (intentionally or accidentally) directly/toward a point. He is also adept at the workings of firearms (knowing the ammo capacity of many kinds of firearms also helps), though he is far from a true marksman in real-life. Zachary is loyal to his newfound friends and could make one part of a deadly trio with them, which would complement his knack for on-the-go strategy acquired from teamplay in CS.

Disadvantages: Despite his threshhold, Zachary would be quite vulnerable to sharp, pointed objects and would definitely feel all but the most minor scrapes and cuts in spades(such as those suffered in the course of his short skateboarding career.) And he would not have suffered so much blunt-force trauma if he weren't so uncoordinated and clumsy (outside of videogames) to begin with. By contrast to his weapons training, he would likely be unskilled at handling meleé weapons, as unlike videogames, utilizing their potential would not be as simple as point-and-click. As for his friends, the trauma of "living" a violent videogame would have major effects on his loyalty with strangers, let alone his classmates from FS. This trauma could also turn the Skateboard Trio into the Lighthouse Boys without warning.

Number: B28

Student information originally written by laZardo, added to roster on 25 October 2006.

==

Designated Weapon: American Flag Conclusions: I hope B28 really does have a high threshhold for pain, because the lousy excuse of a weapon he got won't be doing him any favors in the survival department. That's patriotism for ya. The American government fills your head with faux confidence and support, but at the end of the day you're fighting for a piece of cloth that's supposed to mean something. Maybe he can use it if he runs out of bandages or something.

Game Evaluations
Kills: N/A

Killed by: Bryan Calvert, indirectly

Collected Weapons: American flag (issued weapon), Cats' Claw (referred to as Spanish Tickler by laZardo)

Allies: Andrew Swainson, Nich Finlayson

Enemies: Venus Gwendolyn

Mid-Game Evaluation: Zachary woke up - as the title of the thread suggested - in the middle of the forest, after having woken up and put back to sleep against his will several times in the last 24 hours or so. The unusual and unusually graphic events that preceded and succeeded each shortened waking process had somehow led him to believe he had spawned into a violent videogame with realistic effects, not unlike the Matrix. Inspection of his belongings revealed that his weapon was actually an American Flag, which he was able to fashion into a makeshift garrote.

His first opponent was Venus Gwendolyn, who had "spawned" with a weapon that was clearly too heavy for her. Though he was easily convinced that she was AI (albeit very realistic and sexy AI), she was able to seduce him, and Zed's resistance was futile. (According to both character handlers participating, she did this to be able to procure the flag as a weapon.) However, she took advantage of this and maimed him, almost leaving him as easy prey for Satoru Kamui, who gored Zed's arm with one of his Cats' Claws. Fortunately, Nich had arrived on the scene to "rescue" him.

The two eventually made their way to the hotel, picking up Swainson on the way to complete the trio of friends that had formed prior to their stint on the island. Despite being severely rattled and without any real weapons, the three tried to formulate a plan that would at least ensure a longer period of survival. However, they were eventually caught when the chaos that ensued elsewhere in the building attracted their attention, forcing them to move out of the relative safety of their hotel room and inadvertently into the line of fire. Zed was the first one of them to die when Calvert shot a door open, the buckshot inflicting fatal damage. He died in Andrew's arms, and it's implied that Zed had more than friendly feelings for Swainson as he breathed his last.

Post-Game Evaluation: The fact that there's still little yaoi fanfiction of this player might be attributed to his quick death. Shame.

Memorable Quote(s): "Eugh...I can't believe I did that..." - after an accident in the hotel room temporarily puts Zed and Andy in a rather intimate position

Other/Trivia

 * Being a gamer, Zed's opening thread is littered with references to controversial video game titles and issues, for example, the Hot Coffee scandal.
 * Zachary - like many other gamers - does not hold people like Jack Thompson in very high regard. He figures Damien Carter-Madison's mother Nicole to fit in that same category, though he has never met the mother or the son in person.
 * Zed Foreman is a carryover in appearance and high threshhold for pain only from a character from a webcomic that his handler used to run until recently. Zed Foreman was also the name used as an alias by said character to temporarily disguise his identity during a storyline in the fanfiction/RP that the comic was based off of. (Zachary was chosen as a new first name by the handler during the SOTF application process.)
 * Zed's posts constantly refer to his "favorite video game series," which is the subject of the aforementioned webcomic. His soundtrack as included in the posts - as well as the titles of the topics he's started - can also be found on the soundtrack of said video game series.

Threads
Below is a list of threads containing Zed, in chronological order.

Pre-Game

 * Crash And Burn

Island

 * Welcome to the Jungle (NC-17)
 * Improvising
 * Don't Panic
 * Pale Shelter
 * Stopping for the Night (Content Warning)

Your Thoughts
''Whether you were a fellow handler in SOTF or just an avid reader of the site, we'd like to know what you thought about Zachary "Zed" Foreman. What did you like, or dislike, about the character? Let us know here!''